Beyond Hi-Def: TV's Flexible Future

HD has changed the way we look at TV. Now, a technological revolution is under way that will change the way we use it.

Oct 1, 2009

On July 1, 1941, the television station WNBT (later to become NBC) signed on to the airwaves with the first day of commercial television broadcasting. Programming included a news report, a few quiz shows, and a Dodgers-Phillies game that was watched on 4000 sets. Television has since become the most influential communication technology since the printing press, bringing collective experience to huge audiences like no other medium can. But in the Digital Age, TV may become just another subsection of the Internet, where NBC's offerings are no more important than a video stream from YouTube.com. The pace of technological change is so rapid that the future of the medium exists as only a blur of possibilities--everything from personalized channels to infinite on-demand video delivered to your cellphone. One thing is certain: TV will never be the same.

Be Your Own Network

It all started with the TiVo. By incorporating a hard drive and selectable onscreen TV listings, TiVo and other digital video recorders (DVRs) took a quantum leap past the VCR and radically altered the way we watch TV. The DVR's ability to pause live TV and displace programming from traditional network schedules is known as time shifting, and it has opened up a world of possibilities for TV watchers. TiVo's newest hi-def DVRs can be controlled remotely via the Internet or by phone via Verizon Wireless's Get It Now service.

But what if you did want to watch it right away? The second part of the you-centered programming universe has hit the mainstream in the form of the candy bar-shaped, silver Slingbox. Devices such as the Slingbox, Sony's LocationFree TV and TV2Me are "place shifting" devices. Such technologies can throw live or recorded television from your home entertainment center over a broadband Internet connection to anywhere in the world. So you can watch, say, the Cowboys play the Giants on your computer from a hotel room in Osaka. Depending on which products/services you use, you can even send content to a Windows Mobile smartphone or a PlayStation Portable.

In the world of technology, integration is the sincerest form of flattery, so surely the pioneers of place shifting must be gratified to know that Microsoft now incorporates support for place shifting into Windows XP as well as next year's Vista operating systems. And although no official plans have been released by the cable or satellite industry, future generations of set-top boxes are likely to incorporate place shifting, graduating it from early-adopter novelty to standard feature.

In a world where recorded shows and movies can be watched whenever and wherever a television viewer sees fit, the question soon arises: Why bother to record the content in the first place if you can just download it? Cable companies have offered video-on-demand (VOD) services since 2001 (some, such as Comcast, are even offering hi-def shows on demand), but VOD content generally must be watched within a 24-hour period, and is effectively tied to the cable box to avoid copyright issues. But, taking a cue from the music industry, major networks such as ABC, CBS and NBC are already experimenting with Internet downloads--streaming full episodes of Lost and CSI for free to Web surfers. Those willing to pay $1.99 can also download episodes of shows such as The Office from the iTunes store. And Warner offers vintage shows such as F Troop on IN2TV, a service on America Online. This downloadable content is intended for viewing on computers or tiny iPod screens. It is painfully low-res by today's HDTV standards--but it is changing viewers' relationships with their favorite television shows. Prime-time programming that once kept people glued to their TV sets at home now fits in a pocket--just a click away on the scroll wheel.

Tune In to Your Sliver

The average Cable or satellite television set-top box today receives hundreds of channels at once, a big number, but one theoretically limited by the total bandwidth available through the cable or satellite stream. But a simple rethinking of the way television is delivered to the viewer is clearing the way to a world of infinite channels, catering to every conceivable taste. It's called Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), and it reverses the decades-old logic of broadcast television. Today, a set number of channels are sent out over the airwaves or down a dedicated pipeline to everyone at the same time, letting each viewer tune in on their TV or set-top box at home. IPTV, however, uses the Internet to stream both live and stored content that is requested by each user individually. This process is already used by Web sites such as JumpTV.com, allowing viewers to watch channels from all over the world. IPTV also promises to do for television what podcasts have done for radio--namely, allow thousands of people to produce and air their own independent television programs. This form of programming, called "slivercasting," is giving birth to specialized online channels focusing on interests as diverse as vegetarian cooking and sailing.

The potential of Internet TV has not been lost on phone companies. In fact, they're banking on it--both Verizon and AT&T are upgrading their networks to hook up subscribers to fiberoptic lines. Fiberoptic networks have a distinct advantage over cable and satellite systems. In addition to the fat pipeline that fiberoptic cable offers, the method of television delivery means that just one or two channels have to be beamed to a particular home at a time. So, in the future, telcos could offer a limitless array of channels--even high-definition channels--without straining their network capacity.

Work Every Angle

Not only will IPTV enable you to customize your selection of content, it will personalize the way you watch it. Microsoft is busy building operating systems for IPTV set-top boxes that can tap into a home network to bring instant messaging and caller ID onto the television screen. (Is a call from Uncle Gustaf worth pausing American Idol?) These IPTV boxes will also let viewers second-guess the decisions of a show's director. "With our technology, you can have multiple video feeds coming down the pipe that are assembled by the user on screen," says Ed Graczyk, director of marketing for Microsoft TV. So during an event that has multiple cameras rolling--a football game, for instance--you could change from camera to camera to find your favorite view of the action. Or you could watch multiple views at the same time.

A technological leap forward on the same premise is called Free Viewpoint TV (FTV). This experimental technology takes the same football game scenario and allows you to spin the camera angle to any location--above, behind, beside--to see the action from whatever position you want, live, in real time.

By combining several camera feeds, FTV would allow you to fly around the scene and create Matrix-like effects, explains Ibrahim Sezan, director of information systems technologies at Sharp Labs of America. Early prototypes of FTV systems involved hundreds of cameras positioned on location. However, companies such as Japanese broadcaster NHK have been working on FTV technology that requires fewer cameras in favor of more computing power. The goal is to build enough processing power into viewers' sets so that the TV can perform the calculations necessary to combine just a few camera feeds and then generate a nearly infinite array of viewpoints on the fly. It may give some viewers the visceral connection to the action that is found in video games. Others may just get dizzy.

Ready for Prime Time?

New technologies could redefine your TV screen--from on-the-go cellphone video to images that jump out at you.

Cellular TV Other countries are crazy for TV on cellphones, but are Americans interested? Services such as Verizon Wireless's V Cast and Cingular's MobiTV deliver live TV feeds and on-demand clips. Unfortunately, the video on these services can be jerky and out of sync with the audio feed. But faster networks (such as mobile WiMAX or a satellite system like South Korea's) may deliver a smoother picture.

Dual-View Screens At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Sharp Electronics demonstrated an LCD TV that offered different images at different viewing angles. Will two people in a room want to watch different shows at the same time? Maybe, but Sharp thinks the technology will reach its potential in cars, where passengers can watch video while the driver keeps his eyes on the nav system--and the road.

3D-TV Long associated with B-grade horror movies, 3D television technology could well be dismissed by viewers as a novelty, but big companies such as IBM, Mitsubishi and Philips are working on building 3D capability into next-generation sets. Sharp already sells computer monitors that can display 3D, while Philips hopes to have a 3D-TV to market by 2008--no glasses required.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.